Systems and methods for measuring gas flux

Abstract

Systems and methods for measuring gas flux are disclosed. One method for calculating gas flux includes: receiving a master clock signal from a global positioning system (GPS) module; transmitting a clock synchronization signal that is based on the master clock signal to a measurement subsystem configured to measure environmental data, wherein the measurement subsystem comprises at least two clocks; receiving the environmental data from the measurement subsystem, wherein the environmental data is associated with the at least two clocks; and calculating gas flux based on the environmental data received from the measurement subsystem.

We claim: 
     
       1. A system for measuring gas flux, the system comprising:
 a measurement subsystem configured to measure environmental data associated with measuring the gas flux, wherein the environmental data comprises at least vertical wind speed data and gas concentration data, wherein the measurement subsystem comprises at least two measurement devices, and wherein the measurement subsystem comprises at least two software clocks and at least two hardware clocks; 
 a processing unit in signal communication with the measurement subsystem; and 
 wherein the processing unit is configured to: 
 transmit a clock synchronization signal over a packet-switched network to each of the at least two measurement devices included in the measurement subsystem so as to synchronize the at least two hardware clocks in the measurement subsystem, wherein the clock synchronization signal is based on the master clock signal, wherein the at least two software clocks are synchronized based on the clock synchronization signal, and wherein each of the at least two hardware clocks is synchronized by a corresponding one of the at least two software clocks, 
 receive the environmental data from the measurement subsystem, wherein the environmental data is associated with the at least two hardware clocks, and 
 calculate the gas flux based on the synchronized environmental data received from the measurement subsystem. 
 
     
     
       2. The system of  claim 1 , wherein the system is installed above a terrestrial surface or a water surface. 
     
     
       3. The system of  claim 1 , wherein the environmental data comprises gas data and wind data. 
     
     
       4. The system of  claim 1 , wherein the measurement subsystem comprises a gas analyzer configured to analyze carbon dioxide and water vapor. 
     
     
       5. The system of  claim 4 , wherein the measurement subsystem further comprises an anemometer. 
     
     
       6. The system of  claim 1  wherein the measurement subsystem comprises a first gas analyzer, a second gas analyzer, and an anemometer, wherein the first gas analyzer is configured to analyze methane and the second gas analyzer is configured to measure carbon dioxide and water vapor. 
     
     
       7. The system of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 a global positioning system (GPS) module communicatively coupled to the processing unit, wherein the GPS module is configured to transmit a signal to the processing unit that corresponds to a master clock signal. 
 
     
     
       8. The system of  claim 7 , wherein the signal comprises a PPS (pulse-per-second) signal. 
     
     
       9. The system of  claim 1 , further comprising a global positioning system (GPS) module communicatively coupled to the processing unit wherein the processing unit is configured to:
 receive a master clock signal from the GPS module, wherein the clock synchronization signal is based on the master clock signal. 
 
     
     
       10. The system of  claim 1 , wherein the packet-switched network comprises an Ethernet network. 
     
     
       11. The system of  claim 1 , wherein the processing unit is further configured to:
 transmit the calculated gas flux to a computing device communicatively coupled to the processor over a data network. 
 
     
     
       12. The system of  claim 11 , wherein the data network is a wireless network or a wired network. 
     
     
       13. The system of  claim 11 , wherein the packet-switched network is the same as the data network, or wherein the packet-switched network is different than the data network. 
     
     
       14. The system of  claim 1 , wherein the measurement subsystem comprises a first device and a second device;
 wherein environmental data measured by a first device is transmitted to the second device; and 
 wherein the second device transmits the environmental data measured by the first device to the processing unit. 
 
     
     
       15. The system of  claim 1 , wherein each of the at least two hardware clocks includes a field-programmable gate array (FPGA) clock. 
     
     
       16. A computing device for calculating gas flux, the computing device comprising:
 a first interface configured to receive a master clock signal from a global positioning system (GPS) module; 
 a second interface configured to transmit a clock synchronization signal that is based on the master clock signal to a measurement subsystem configured to measure environmental data, wherein the environmental data comprises at least vertical wind speed data and gas concentration data, wherein the measurement subsystem comprises at least two software clocks and at least two hardware clocks, wherein the at least two software clocks are synchronized based on the received clock synchronization signal, and wherein each of the at least two software clocks sends a hardware clock synchronization signal to a corresponding one of the at least two hardware clocks, wherein each hardware clock is synchronized based on the received hardware clock synchronization signal; 
 a third interface configured to receive the environmental data from the measurement subsystem, wherein the environmental data is associated with the at least two hardware clocks; and 
 a processing unit configured to calculate gas flux based on the synchronized environmental data received from the measurement subsystem. 
 
     
     
       17. The computing device of  claim 16 , wherein the measurement subsystem comprises a gas analyzer and an anemometer, wherein the gas analyzer is configured to analyze carbon dioxide and water vapor. 
     
     
       18. The method of  claim 16 , wherein each of the at least two hardware clocks includes a field-programmable gate array (FPGA) clock. 
     
     
       19. A method for calculating gas flux, comprising:
 receiving a master clock signal from a global positioning system (GPS) module; 
 transmitting a clock synchronization signal that is based on the master clock signal to a measurement subsystem configured to measure environmental data, wherein the environmental data comprises at least vertical wind speed data and gas concentration data, wherein the measurement subsystem comprises at least two software clocks and at least two hardware clocks, wherein the at least two software clocks are synchronized based on the received clock synchronization signal, and wherein each of the at least two software clocks sends a hardware clock synchronization signal to a corresponding one of the at least two hardware clocks, wherein each hardware clock is synchronized based on the received hardware clock synchronization signal; 
 receiving the environmental data from the measurement subsystem, wherein the environmental data is associated with the at least two hardware clocks; and 
 calculating gas flux based on the synchronized environmental data received from the measurement subsystem. 
 
     
     
       20. The method of  claim 19 , further comprising transmitting the calculated gas flux to a computing device over a data network. 
     
     
       21. The method of  claim 19 , wherein the measurement subsystem comprises a gas analyzer and an anemometer, wherein the gas analyzer is configured to analyze carbon dioxide and water vapor. 
     
     
       22. The method of  claim 19 , wherein each of the at least two hardware clocks includes a field-programmable gate array (FPGA) clock.